DragonFly
Small MTA for home and office use. Works on Linux and FreeBSD.
DragonFly vs OpenSMTPD
Two self-hosted Communication - Email - Mail Transfer Agents apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.
Side by side
| DragonFly | OpenSMTPD | |
|---|---|---|
| Description | Small MTA for home and office use. Works on Linux and FreeBSD. | Secure SMTP server implementation from the OpenBSD project. |
| GitHub stars | 266 | 586 |
| Forks | – | – |
| Open issues | – | – |
| Commits (12 months) | 12 | 63 |
| Last activity | 2026-08-30 | 2026-11-03 |
| Latest release | v0.14 (2025-01-03) | 7.9.0p0 (2026-09-13) |
| Maintenance health | Active | Active |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | ISC |
| Language / platform | C | C, deb |
| Docker Hub image | – | – |
| Docker pulls | – | – |
| Est. server size | ~512 MB, 1 vCPU | ~512 MB, 1 vCPU |
| Est. hosting from | $3.5/mo | $3.5/mo |
| Categories | Communication - Email - Mail Transfer Agents | Communication - Email - Mail Transfer Agents |
| Links | Website · Source | Website · Source |
What the numbers say
- OpenSMTPD is more popular on GitHub: 586 stars vs 266 for DragonFly.
- OpenSMTPD had more commits in the last 12 months (63 vs 12).
- OpenSMTPD has more recent repository activity (2026-11-03 vs 2026-08-30).
- OpenSMTPD published a release more recently (7.9.0p0 on 2026-09-13; DragonFly's latest is v0.14 on 2025-01-03).
- DragonFly is licensed under BSD-3-Clause, OpenSMTPD under ISC.
- Both are written in C.
- Deployment options listed upstream: DragonFly: none listed; OpenSMTPD: deb.
Summary: OpenSMTPD leads on GitHub popularity, commit activity and recent activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.
This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.
Frequently asked questions
Is DragonFly or OpenSMTPD more popular?
OpenSMTPD has more GitHub stars (586 vs 266 for DragonFly, as of 2026-11-05). Stars measure interest, not quality.
Which is more actively maintained, DragonFly or OpenSMTPD?
OpenSMTPD had more commits over the last 12 months (63 vs 12). The last recorded activity was 2026-08-30 for DragonFly and 2026-11-03 for OpenSMTPD. Our health labels: DragonFly is “Active”, OpenSMTPD is “Active”.
What licenses do DragonFly and OpenSMTPD use?
DragonFly: BSD-3-Clause. OpenSMTPD: ISC.
Can I run DragonFly and OpenSMTPD with Docker?
We did not detect a Docker Hub image for either app. Check each project's documentation for install options.
Read more
OpenSMTPD
Secure SMTP server implementation from the OpenBSD project.
Browse all self-hosted Communication - Email - Mail Transfer Agents apps.